![]() This is contrary to some colonial authorities and Christian missionaries’ general beliefs that Africans were unbelievers. Instead, many Africans practiced Western and traditional African religions concurrently and as such utilised the services of both the traditional and Western health care systems ( Nigosian, 1994).īefore the Westernisation process, Africans had always believed in God and the ancestors and had been profoundly spiritual. Contrary to the intentions of colonial authorities and the apartheid government, this forced conversion and Westernisation did not lead Africans to completely abandon the traditional African health care system and African religion ( Nigosian, 1994). This is where many African children were introduced and ‘converted’ to the Christian religion. In many parts of apartheid South Africa, an African child had to have a ‘Christian’ name before she or he could be enrolled at a primary school. Nonetheless, it is also worth mentioning that others became Christians by choice ( Nigosian, 1994). With the challenge for and the Westernisation of the African continent in the 19 th century, many Africans became Christians not by choice but via intimidation. Traditional African religion had existed for many centuries before the arrival of Western Christian missionaries and Western political expeditions on the African continent. A tribe is defined as a “ social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect, typically having a recognised leader” ( Pearsall, 2001: 1530). In other words, its practice varies from tribe to tribe but the substance remains the same all over Africa. The traditional African religion, in particular, can be described as tribal ( Van der Walt, 2003). Nigosian ( 1994: 4) defined religion in general as “an invention or creation of the human mind for regulating all human activity, and this creative activity is a human necessity that satisfies the spiritual desires and needs inherent in human nature”. Traditional African religion /spirituality: Communication between the living and the living-dead Firstly, the traditional African philosophy of illness in most cases encompasses relations between God, ancestors and the universe and in many traditional healers double as religious leaders (priests and prophets) in African independent churches and vice versa. ![]() Chavunduka (n.d.) gave two main reasons why it is difficult to separate traditional African healing from traditional African religion or spirituality. This idea was well captured by Gumede (1990) who asserted that it would be difficult to understand the traditional healer and his/her trade without taking the concept of traditional African religion/spirituality into account. ![]() The colonial authorities and subsequently the apartheid government imposed a Western worldview on the people of South Africa without an attempt to determine the validity of the African worldview on issues such as traditional African healing and traditional African religion/spirituality, which are in most cases mutually interwoven. One would immediately realise that South Africa is a complex country with diverse cultural beliefs. To encapsulate these divisions, one needs only to listen to the discussions and debates about religion, traditional healing, ‘lobola/magadi’ and traditional ceremonies on radio stations, in the newspapers and other public forums throughout the country. Having been liberated from minority Nationalist Party rule in 1994, many areas of activity are still divided between Western and African philosophies. Relative to other African countries, South Africa is a young democracy.
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